This is the second full-length from Merlin, who despite the name are not a cheesy power-metal band, but a brutal-ass death metal band from Russia. I was surprised by how much I liked their first CD "Deathkoteque" (even if I hate that title), and so I’m not surprised I like this one too, if you get what I mean.

There are no real stylistic differences here from the last album, and "They Must Die" is packed with the same brutal death riffs that made "Deathkoteque" so enjoyable. The songwriting is a little tighter, and the production a bit meatier (even if I don’t like the guitar sound as much), but the same sort of Morbid Angel-inspired death metal rules here. Frontwoman Maria Abazza (whom the bio claims is the great-granddaughter of Igor Stravinsky!) sounds a bit raspier, and the album as a whole is a little blastier and more uniform.

"They Must Die" is another strong slab of death from a promising band. It’s a better album; more mature and professional than "Deathkoteque", but for some reason I don’t like it quite as well. I think it’s that the songwriting is less varied and the production a bit more generic. Nevertheless, this is a perfectly good death metal CD of the Florida school with a few NWSDM flourishes thrown in. Merlin are good, and I will be on the lookout for their next one.